About Jonathon Colman

Previously, I was the principal user experience architect at REI and managed global digital marketing for The Nature Conservancy. I also served overseas in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso, West Africa and worked in conservation nonprofits for almost a decade.

I’ve spoken at over 80 tech events on five continents and earned a master’s degree in Information Management from the University of Washington in 2013. I studied Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and technical communication at Michigan Technological University.

All of that makes me a nerd, but don’t worry—I try to be one of the good ones.

Jenn took this photo on what ended up being a very bad day for me; I think you can see some of that sadness in my eyes here, even though I’m smiling. That’s why I use this photo in all my profiles now—it’s a way to remind myself that it’s OK to be open and vulnerable. When you let people in, good folks (like Jenn!) will be there to help you out.

Erika Nortemann took this photo for a feature that the Chronicle of Philanthropy was doing about online fundraising. They contacted us at 4pm on a Friday afternoon asking for a high-res photo. I tried so hard to look like I knew something about the Internet, about fundraising, about anything. Not sure I succeeded.

My friend Chris Wolz runs Forum One. He invited me to speak at an executive seminar they hosted at the National Press Club. So I gave this talk two days before leaving for a three-month fellowship in Australia and then relocating to Seattle… and was even able to sneak in a Battlestar Galactica reference on stage.

Here, I’m listening to Marja read her wedding vows to me. We hand-wrote them while traveling in New Zealand and I had no idea what she was going to say. But about 10 seconds after this photo was taken, she said something that made me burst into tears. I love my wife.

Here Marja and I are creating a sort of human yin-yang (阴阳). Even when we’re apart, we’re still together because we’ve taken from each other’s souls and left something new behind. And yes—that’s a koru earring I’m wearing.

Marja accompanied me on a three-month fellowship I did in Australia for The Nature Conservancy. We loved Oz so much that we came back for vacation just a couple of years later to explore the Great Barrier Reef.

#bestdogever

#bestdogever joined our family in December of 2011 when we found her at the Seattle Humane Society. She likes food, snorgles, and walks to the park. She dislikes squirrels, baths, and home invaders, not to mention anytime when her people aren’t giving her enough attention. Speaking of which… gotta go!